18 CFR § 2.55 - Auxiliary installations and replacement facilities.
For the purposes of section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act, as amended, the word facilities as used therein shall be interpreted to exclude:
(a) Auxiliary installations.
(1) Installations (excluding gas compressors) which are merely auxiliary or appurtenant to an authorized or proposed transmission pipeline system and which are installations only for the purpose of obtaining more efficient or more economical operation of the authorized or proposed transmission facilities, such as: Valves; drips; pig launchers/receivers; yard and station piping; cathodic protection equipment; gas cleaning, cooling and dehydration equipment; residual refining equipment; water pumping, treatment and cooling equipment; electrical and communication equipment; and buildings. The auxiliary installations must be located within the existing or proposed certificated permanent right-of-way or authorized facility site and must be constructed using the temporary work space used to construct the existing or proposed facility (see Appendix A to this Part 2 for guidelines on what is considered to be the appropriate work area in this context).
(2) Advance notification. One of the following requirements will apply to any specified auxiliary installation. If auxiliary facilities are to be installed:
(i) On existing transmission facilities, then no notification is required;
(ii) On, or at the same time as, certificated facilities which are not yet in service (except those authorized under the automatic procedures of part 157 of subpart F of this chapter), then a description of the auxiliary facilities and their locations must be provided to the Commission at least 30 days in advance of their installation; or
(iii) On, or at the same time as facilities that are proposed, then the auxiliary facilities must be described in the environmental report specified in § 380.12 or in a supplemental filing while the application is pending.
(3) Abandonment or replacement of auxiliary installations. Authorization to abandon or replace auxiliary facilities that were or could be installed under paragraph (a)(1) of this section is pre-granted under section 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act, and no reporting is required, provided that:
(i) All activities will be confined to areas, including temporary work space, previously authorized by the Commission for the construction and operation of facilities at that location;
(ii) All activities will comply with applicable conditions on certificate authorizations for the construction and operation of facilities at that location; and
(iii) The abandonment or replacement will have no adverse impact on customers' certificated services.
(b) Replacement of facilities.
(1) Facilities which constitute the replacement of existing facilities that have or will soon become physically deteriorated or obsolete, to the extent that replacement is deemed advisable, if:
(i) The replacement will not result in a reduction or abandonment of service through the facilities;
(ii) The replacement facilities will have a substantially equivalent designed delivery capacity, will be located in the same right-of-way or on the same site as the facilities being replaced, and will be constructed using the temporary work space used to construct the existing facility (see Appendix A to Part 2 for guidelines on what is considered to be the appropriate work area in this context);
(iii) Except as described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, the company files notification of such activity with the Commission at least 30 days prior to commencing construction.
(2) Advance notification not required. The advance notification described in paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section is not required if:
(i) The cost of the replacement project does not exceed the cost limit specified in Column 1 of Table I of § 157.208(d) of this chapter; or
(ii) U.S. Department of Transportation safety regulations require that the replacement activity be performed immediately;
(3) Contents of the advance notification. The advance notification described in paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section must include the following information:
(i) A brief description of the facilities to be replaced (including pipeline size and length, compression horsepower, design capacity, and cost of construction);
(ii) Current U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute series topographic maps showing the location of the facilities to be replaced; and
(iii) A description of the procedures to be used for erosion control, revegetation and maintenance, and stream and wetland crossings.
(4) Annual report. On or before May 1 of each year, a company must file (in accordance with filing procedures posted on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov.) an annual report that lists for the previous calendar year each replacement project that was completed pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section and that was exempt from the advance notification requirement pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this section. For each such replacement project, the company must include all of the information described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. Exception. A company does not have to include in this annual report any above-ground replacement project that did not involve compression facilities or the use of earthmoving equipment.
(c) Landowner notification. (1)(i) No activity described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section that involves ground disturbance is authorized unless a company makes a good faith effort to notify in writing each affected landowner, as noted in the most recent county/city tax records as receiving the tax notice, whose property will be used and subject to ground disturbance as a result of the proposed activity, at least five days prior to commencing any activity under this section. A landowner may waive the five-day prior notice requirement in writing, so long as the notice has been provided. No landowner notice under this section is required:
(A) If all ground disturbance will be confined entirely to areas within the fence line of an existing above-ground site of facilities operated by the company; or
(B) For activities done for safety, DOT compliance, or environmental or unplanned maintenance reasons that are not foreseen and that require immediate attention by the company.
(ii) The notification shall include at least:
(A) A brief description of the facilities to be constructed or replaced and the effect the activity may have on the landowner's property;
(B) The name and phone number of a company representative who is knowledgeable about the project; and
(C) A description of the Commission's Landowner Helpline, which an affected person may contact to seek an informal resolution of a dispute as explained in § 1b.22(a) of this chapter and the Landowner Helpline number.
(2) “Affected landowners” include owners of interests, as noted in the most recent county/city tax records as receiving tax notice, in properties (including properties subject to rights-of-way and easements for facility sites, compressor stations, well sites, and all above-ground facilities, and access roads, pipe and contractor yards, and temporary work space) that will be directly affected by (i.e., used) and subject to ground disturbance as a result of activity under this section.
(d) [Reserved]